Holiday Excitement

 If you stopped by, you had fun, too! We sold all the books from my first order, but I've restocked, and she signed all I have.

Sumer is icumen in

First, a reminder: Fleda Brown will be at Dog Ears Books on Friday, May 23, reading from her new chapbook, Doctor of the World, beginning around noon. We are gathering informally, and since it will be lunch time I’m inviting people to bring a sack lunch. (I’ll have some nonalcoholic punch to quench your thirst.) How often do you have a chance to meet a poet laureate? Fleda held that position in Delaware. Poetry and conversation will take place in the newly rearranged gallery next to the bookstore. 

Then, an announcement: On Memorial Day, the following Monday, children’s author and retired elementary school teacher Kathy Groth will be here for an hour or two, beginning around midday, to inscribe her new book for purchasers. Sunken --  Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan takes two young children with a magic map on an underwater adventure into history and mystery. If you’ve only got five minutes, that’s time enough to stop by to have the author write a personal note in a copy of her book for the inquiring and adventurous young people in your life (with lots of information for adults, as well).

 

Finally, a preview: We will be having a book launch on Tuesday, June 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. for Marilyn Zimmerman’s In Defense of Good Women. That will be exciting! There’s another poetry reading in the works, also, with guest poets Teresa Scollon and Jennifer Clark. As soon as I have a date for that, I'll let you know. 

Newly Arrived: THE SOUL OF SLEEPING BEAR

 

This beautiful new book of photographs of the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore has text to match the images' beauty. The covered bridge on the book cover invites you in! 

Both text and photography are by Mark Lindsay, and books in the shop now are signed by Mark. Perfect for Fathers Day, coming up next month. 

Are you an explorer?

 

In addition to the usual new postcards and a box of old $1 postcards, I also have a small collection of other vintage cards in the $2-6 range. The two Orson Peck cards above, $5 each, show unpaved road leading from Traverse City up along West Bay into Leelanau County (top) and then east and north along East Bay, and I don't imagine these cards will be here long.

Jigsaw puzzles of 500 and 1000 pieces have been in stock all winter, but now is the time for the trillium puzzle, and you'll want to stretch out this beautiful time of year when we get some rainy days.

Always, of course, lots and lots of books -- new, used, classics, unusual -- they are the reason for our being. Additions to store stock arrive constantly, and next week will bring a wonderful new surprise, so stay tuned and/or drop in. 

You don't have to have a specific title in mind to visit a bookstore. In fact, it's much better if you come with an open mind and a willingness to explore, because often you don't know what you want until you and it find each other. 

Reminder: Poet Fleda Brown will be here to read from her new chapbook, Doctor of the World, and to answer questions and generally visit with audience at noon on Friday, May 23. This will be a casual (free) event, so feel free to bring a sack lunch. Hope to see you here!

Something New All the Time

 

Besides a bunch of new Michigen-themed board books, we also have two new picture books for children. One of them, as you can see, is set on Mackinac Island. Both are engagingly illustrated. 

While National Poetry Month (April) may be over, every month is poetry month at Dog Ears Books. When Anne-Marie Oomen stopped by recently, she signed her two mermaid books for me, and just today Teresa Scollon's new book of poems arrived. 

And that's only the tip of the new book iceberg. As for used books, you know there's always something "new" in those big departments. This week it's World War II that received so many new additions that I had to rearrange the whole section.